Small engine repair has been a CTE program here at Park for many years, in this program students learn to work on smaller engines such as lawn mowers, snow blowers, chain saws, and more.
Mr. Pennybacker has been teaching the small engine repair program at Park for three years. Before teaching the art of the engine to his students Mr. Pennybacker perfected his techniques by working with engines of all sorts for most of his life.
“I’ve worked on automotives forever, it’s the same symptoms, still two and four cycled,” said Pennybacker. “It’s just smaller, take an engine on a car and make it smaller.”
A lot goes on in this program, students work on many different motors learning to maintain and fix anything that could go wrong with the machines. This program allows students to learn and work hands on, preparing them to enter a trade right after graduating high school.
“My favorite part is probably doing oil changes,” said second year student, Gavin Goodwin
Spending time in the basement is the highlight of many students days,
“My favorite part is just getting to come down to the basement, and get to do some of the things I like doing,” said second year student Tanner Burkhart.
The students in this program always have something to work on, in the fall months they work on all the lawn mowers from the summer time. They change the oil and the blades so when summer comes back around the mowers are ready to run again. They do the same thing as spring comes with the snow blowers.
“Right now we mostly pull in a lot of snow blowers, we fix them up, maintain them, and oil changes,” said Goodwin.
Small engine care isn’t something everyone thinks about from day to day, but it is important to care for what keeps our everyday machines running.
“For instance, your car, you drive it and run out of gas, you just go fill it back up. The ethanol is what’s critical in small engines,” said Pennybacker. “So when you take a mower and you cut grass, you may not cut grass for another week, ethanol is critical on carbonators because it restricts the flow of fuel.”
Students wishing to take this class have to take the career exploration class either their Freshman, or Sophomore year. This class is only half of a year and lets students explore all the different CTE programs offered at Park. After taking the exploration class and then being in Mr. Pennybackers class for 2 years you will become a completer in the program.
